MADISON, Wis. – In the worst of times, you can count on ambulances to be there to help. As the burdens of the pandemic weigh upon ambulance service companies, they’re looking for some assistance themselves.
In a recent letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, the president of the American Ambulance Association said the 911 emergency medical system in the country is at a “breaking point.”
Private ambulance service companies that operate in Madison say they’re seeing an increase in call volume.
Paratech Ambulance Service, which covers the Milwaukee area through Madison to the Illinois border, averaged 16 COVID-related patients a day during its busiest month in November. In August, one of the company’s lowest months, that number was 182.
Since March, Ambulance Operations Director Chris Walters said Paratech has transported more than 3,000 patients suspected of having COVID-19.
At Ryan Brothers Ambulance Service, based in Madison, owner Erin Ryan said the company has responded to about 2,500 COVID-related calls out of close to 10,000 total this year.
“Whether they’re symptomatic, whether they’re asymptotic, we have to almost treat every patient as if they have it,” Ryan said.
“It’s been a challenging year, to say the least,” Walters said.
It’s also been a fast-moving year for ambulance companies as they put safety protocol in place for emergency responders to tackle the pandemic head on.
“They make us proud every day, facing the pandemic and coming to work and putting others in front of their own safety” Walters said.
He said moving patients around health systems to keep hospital beds open is much of what they do now.
With stagnant Medicaid reimbursement rates, Walters said the pandemic just makes the existing financial issues for private companies worse.
“Local leaders, they need to pay attention to this or there will be EMS systems going out of business across the nation.”
Posted by Madalyn O’Neill on Thursday, December 3, 2020
“We’ve struggled as an industry with reimbursements and funding sources prior to the pandemic, and very little if any real funding has come to EMS, so obviously the math there makes it a struggle,” he said. “Local leaders, they need to pay attention to this or there will be EMS systems continuing to go out of business across the nation.”
That’s combined with expensive protective equipment needs and the struggle of having enough healthy workers to do the job. Ryan said they go through a grueling process to make sure staff members aren’t infected before working.
“It’s a constant challenge,” Ryan said, adding that government funding has been largely inaccessible or insufficient.
“It just runs out,” he said, referring to when companies rush to apply for grants. “And you might get $1,000 where you maybe need $100,000.”
Ryan said it’s been a draining year, not only for his staff.
“We’ve been extremely busy,” he said. “People with mental health issues, we’ve seen a double increase in transports.”
It’s also been especially difficult for the family company as a whole.
“My father, who created and started Ryan Brothers, passed away in February,” Ryan said. “My brother and business partner of over 20 years passed away in May, so that’s been even harder.”
Ryan is calling for more accessible government funding, along with hazard pay and quick testing for his workers, so that ambulance companies can keep the fight going.
“Something has to change, because we all can’t keep up at this pace,” he said.
Despite the larger problems facing the industry, Ryan said his company will be sticking around. Walters said that Paratech is doing fine for the foreseeable future, as well, but both men expressed worries about emergency medical services as a whole.
“If things don’t change, that could cause issues and cause collapse, especially of overall EMS systems,” Walters said.
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